Dear brothers, families and churches.
We will have the Parliament elections here in Ukraine, and all country is flooded by agitation posters. Our country is under the influence of different political forces, on one side there are those who promote reformation and democratic changes, and on the other – representatives of moderate changes and totalitarian control over society. But the interesting thing is that neither of them mentions God or believes in His control and providence.
As Christians we believe that all authorities are from God, and it’s in His power to change governments, establish and destroy countries. The only thing thousands of Christians all over the world pray for is the peace for God’s church.
We have started a new school year at the Institute. 15 students attend classes. First-year students had courses on: How We Got the Bible (Albert Bagdasaryan), Hermeneutics (Dennis Sopelnik), Scheme of Redemtion and Family Living (Jim Sherman). Second-year students had courses on: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Victor Semikoz), Leadership (Andrew Zhuravlyov), Greek (Terry Harmon), and Intertestamental Period (Dennis Sopelnik).
We thank God that Jim Sherman comes to the Institute twice a year. His work for the Institute is priceless. He is a living example of faith, patience and obedience to God. Students learn a lot from such teachers, and it helps them later to minister at their local churches, and every time parting with him, we are already looking forward to seeing him again.
Some students are already actively participating in the work of the Central Church of Christ in Gorlovka; they are evangelizing, teaching at the youth group meetings and organizing interesting events after the classes. One such event was a dinner together, when students prepared shashlyk (shish kebab), and then we had good time, playing Frisbee and volleyball. When I was studying at the Institute, I noticed that we didn’t have sports events. Knowledge is important, but our bodies also need physical exercise.
In October, we have planned to have a conference for young people on the topic: “Do Not Be Afraid of Failure.” We want to invite young people from the Donetsk region. In this seminar we plan to teach them to not depart from their goals in serving the Lord and also get them acquainted with our Institute and our program of leadership training.
At the end of October, students of the Bachelor’s program will have a week of an evangelizing campaign, and then they will have Fall Break. During this period, we will have two weeks of classes for Master’s program.
There is good news. In October, a young lady will join our Bible program. Her name is Katya, and she is from Konstantinovka. Thanks be to the Lord that young people want to receive a good quality education in the Bible. We ask you to pray for our students, so that they will be active ministers for God’s cause in Ukraine in future.
Thank you for your support of God’s work in Ukraine. We pray for you and your care for us.
Students send you their greetings, and they highly esteem the input that you make in their lives.
Your brother and co-worker for the Lord’s cause,
Dennis Sopelnik